WPRI reporter Dan McGowan has done a deep dive about Rhode Island’s new plan to improve schools. Under the new federal education law ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), each state is required to submit a plan that must be approved by the US Department of Education and the day to submit is getting close. McGowan digs in to the 89 page draft and breaks it down for us in a way that’s extremely informative and easy to understand. This new law impacts all of our kids and it’s important for parents and educators and electeds to be informed. So, thank you Dan!

Rhode Island will rank schools using a star system.Some states ranks schools A-F. Some use a 1-5 system. In the past Rhode Island has used a classification system that broke schools into six categories: commended, leading, typical, warning, focus and priority. Under Rhode Island’s ESSA plan, schools will be ranked using a 1-5 star system. The rubric the state is following assigns points for five separate categories: achievement in ELA and math; growth in ELA and math; English language proficiency; graduation rate (for high schools only); and exceeding expectation on ELA and math as well as having low chronic absenteeism (for students AND teachers) and suspension rates.